. . . .cuts grooves fast and accurately. But it does a lot more if you want it to. I think we might have undervalued the wooden plane but even more so the men that used them for centuries before we abandoned them almost altogether. It’s the lightness of them that we really lost but…
. . . by any other name be as sweet? Mention router to anyone and the mind immediately conjures up thoughts of a screaming, two-handed hand-held machine in Bosch turquoise, Dewalt yellow or Festool bright green and black. Additionally, that is with you the machinist wearing protective headgear like a gladiator ready to do battle….
Looking back through my archives I found this piece I designed, made and videoed for Woodworking Masterclasses. I wanted a piece that could be made from store-bought one-bys but that would enable me to teach a variety of things surrounding housing dadoes by hand. It was a great project. Ever since I began teaching other…
We created a video covering the progress on the Sellers’ home up to the end of 2023, to show what we have achieved over the last three years making two dozen and more sizeable pieces primarily using commonly available hand tools and a bandsaw for resizing stock. When everyone says it can’t really be done…
Having leveled the edges top and bottom and then too the outside we can focus on fitting the bottom and the lift-up lid. Fitting the bottom first allows us to take care of minor discrepancies in squareness before fitting the lid. Making the first corner square and then working parallel will push the box into…
It was the thought of Christmas that did it—that and the fact that I love my box design for several reasons. I have made half a dozen of the designs without the idea of personally making money from them or future ones. I’m thinking this to be a benevolent piece. I want to give them…
It’s six weeks since my hand surgery so yesterday I returned to Pulvertaft Hand Clinic for a review. It’s a two-hour drive each way which in UK terms is the equivalent of driving halfway across my home state of Texas which in a straight line north to south is 800 miles but here a mere…
This is Joseph, Paul’s son, and I am here to ask you all to join me in wishing him a very happy 74th birthday! We had a low-key celebration at work yesterday for him and have a further family celebration planned for this weekend. Despite his 74 years of age my dad is fit as…
It’s only a knife, one with no attractive qualities beyond its inexpensive price and availability. It’s one of the cheapest to be found on any market and as far as functionality goes you cannot beat it no matter what you pay for such a working knife. But would an ebony or a rosewood handle offer…
I was indeed on my own and I felt it. The isolation of being different and living your beliefs is by its very nature usually, mostly, isolating. People, others, don’t feel like you do. Not really. It’s just a job. Nothing more. You work for pay and not for craft and yet I see craft…